Cartridge-charger for machine-gun feeders



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. F. BRUCE. CARTRIDGE CHARGER FOR MACHINE GUN FEEDERS. No. 341,371.Patented May 4', 1886.

WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEY (N0 Mbdel.)

' L. F. BRUCE.

CARTRIDGE CHARGER FUR MACHINE GUN FBEDERS.

Z Patented May i 2 K 0 t 7 i R Y e O E e Z q T N h 1 1 I ||l|l| I N R SA A E O s v llllllllu W I l I I I l l I l l |l m I 4 A m S Y 2 /-W BWITNESSES= UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IJUCIEN F. BRUCE, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GATLINGGUN COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

CARTRIDGE-CHARGER FOR MACHINE-GUN FEEDERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,371, dated May 4,1886.

Application filed September 7, 1885. Serial No. 176,310. No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIEN F. BRUCE, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Springfield, in'the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inCartridge-Chargers for Machine-Gun Feeders, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in [O cartridge-chargers formachine-gun feeders, the object being to provide improved devices forplacing cartridges one by onein magazinefeeders for machineguns of theGatling-gun class, from which they are delivered to the gun 1 to befired.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figurelis aperspective View, partly in section, and showing a portion of the outercases broken away, of a gun-feeder and a cartridge-eharger therefor, thelatter being constructed according to my invention, said figure showingthe charger and the feeder in operative positions and a number ofcartridges in the positions they occupy in being conveyed into thefeeder, as hereinafter set forth. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of thecartridge-charger, and shows also a portion of the side of thesaidfeeder. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of that portion of the periphery ofthe gun-feeder in which is the opening through which cartridges areintroduced, but showing the cartridgeguiding grooves in its side wallsinclining in the opposite direction to those shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa front View of a cartridge-guiding device employed in removingcartridges from the usual packing-boxes and conducting them into thecartridge-charger. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an eccentric bushingwhich is employed in the manipulation of the 4 feeder while the latteris being charged, as hereinafter described. Fig. 6 is a perspective viewof the cartridge stop devices which are applied to the charger.

In the drawings, A indicates a suitable up- 4 5 right frame,to the sideof which the cartridgecharger B is secured, and having thereon acylindrical stud, D, on which the gun-feeder E is hung and supportedwhile it is receiving the cartridges from the charger in the posiappliedthereto.

tion shown in Fig. 1. It will be observed that the stud D is of smallerdiameter than a central transverse hole through the feeder E, the end ofwhich is indicated by the circular line 5, Fig. 1. The hollow bushing F,provided with the handle a, fits the said hole in the feeder within line5, and also the stud D, on which it freely turns. The said eccentricbushing F is used in conjunction with the feeder E and the stud D forthe purpose of elevating the feeder to its proper place beneath thecharger when about to be filled with cartridges, as in Fig. 1, and forlowering it away from the charger when filled, both of which operationsare effected by turning said bushing on stud D, the feeder ordinarilybeing first placed on the stud and the bushing then placed on the latterwith its thick side down, after which, by turning the bushingby itshandle a, the feeder is elevated to the position shown and brought intoconnection with the charger, as hereinafter described.

After the feeder E is filled with cartridges, turning thick side ofbushing F downward causes it to drop away from the charger, and it isthen removed from stud D for use on a on. g The feeder E is a well-knowndevice for holding a quantity of cartridges and delivering them to amachine-gun, actuated by a moving part of the latter after having beenSaid feeder consists of two disk-shaped metallic side plates, 1) b, eachsecured on a tubular center, heretofore referred to as receiving thebushing F, a band,

'0, through which is an opening, as shown in Fig. 3, being securedaround the border of said plates, thereby forming a short cylindricalbox. Said plates 1) b have on their inner opposite sides a series ofspiral grooves, 0, extending from the periphery thereof nearly to saidtubular center, the said grooves having an inclined cartridge-entrance,0, at the opening on the border of the feeder, as shown in Fig. 3. Saidspiral grooves on the plates 1) Z) are formed by securing suitablemetallic strips 5 thereto by their edges, or in any other suitablemanner, the width of said grooves being sufficient to allow the headand. the ball end of a cartridge (when held in the position shown inFig. 1) to move freely therein, following said grooves inwardly andoutwardly. Motion is given to said cartridges, whereby they are causedto follow the grooves o in the feeder, as aforesaid, by a wheel havingarms (1, arranged in pairs and secured to a suitable hub on said tubularcenter in the feeder.

Said arms radiate from said hub between the plates 1) I), as shown, andeach pair is sufficiently separated from the other to allow a cartridgeto pass therebetween, as shown in Fig. 1. It is seen, therefore, that acartridge dropped into the inclined entrance 0 to the grooves 0 in thesides of the feeder E and falling between the pairs of the arms d is, bythe rotary motion of said arms, forced to follow the spiral grooves totheir termination near the center of the feeder, and by reversing themotion of said arms the cartridge is forced out of the feeder.Heretofore said feeder has been charged by picking up one cartridge at atime, dropping it into the feeder, and turning said arms sufficiently tocarry said cartridge away from the entrance 0,-and repeating saidoperation until the feeder was filled. Said means of charging the feederare inadequate to the requirements of a machine gun, which uses thecontents of said feeder in much less time than is required to fill it;and to obviate said inconvenience and to provide means for charging saidfeeder rapidly and accurately the within described improve ments areprovided.

The cartridge-charger by which cartridges are carried one by one intothe feeder E, and by which the aforesaid armed wheel in the latter isrotated to cause the said cartridges to take their proper places in thefeeder, is constructed as follows: \Vithin a suit-able cylindricalmetallic case is mounted in proper bearings the shaft 6, which isrotated by the crank f. On said shaft 6 are fixed two separated circularmetallic plates, a it, having the notches or recesses 12 in theirborders in coinciding positions. Said plates are sufficiently separatedto allow the ends of the arms (1 of the feeder to pass up between them,as shown. Between the plates an on shaft 0 is fixed the disk 10, havingprojecting from its periphery the long and short teeth,respectivel a;and z, the said parts a a, fixed on the shaft 6, constituting thecharger- Wheel. Above the said charger-Wheel, and suitably secured tosaid case, is a wheel case, y, of oblong form, having an opening throughit, which constitutes the mouth of the charger, and in which is hung thewinged cartridgegoverning wheel 0., which rotates therein at a suitabledistance from the curved inner wall, a, to permit a cartridge to passbetween the iatter and the wheel in the position shown in Fig. 1. Theinner wall of the wheelc'aset,

opposite the wall 8, is recessed, and at each end of the recess isformed an inclined table, m, and said wheel rotates between saidinclined parts of the wheel-case, projecting a little beyond the edgesof said parts. The upper side of the wheel-case 3 is provided with anupstanding lip, t, (see Fig. 2,) and is otherwise properly formed toreceive the foot J of the cartridge guide or feeder h, Fig. 4, thelatter being secured to the li pt of the wheel-case by the thumb-screw6. To provide means for preventing the rotation of the saidcartridge-can rying wheel of the charger by the weight of the cartridgesin the latter when the filled feeder E is removed from under thecharger, and for allowing the cartridges to resume their movement towardthefeeder when another is placed under the charger, the stop devicesillustrated in Figs. 2 and 6 are applied to the latter, and areconstructed and operate as follows: A shaft, 20, is hung in suitablebearings, 21, on the side of the charger-ease near its lower end. Twoarms, 22, are fixed on said shaft, which project therefrom through saidcase, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and on one of said arms, orattached to the shaft, as may be preferred, is an outwardly-reachingarm, 23. A coiled spring is attached to shaft 29, and its free end isadapted to bear against the side of the charger-case to rock said shaftin one direction. Thus when the feeder E is applied under the charger tobe filled, the border of its case strikes the end of arm23, as in Fig.2, swinging it upward, rocking shaft 20,

and throwing the ends of the arms 22, which reach under the lowercartridge in the charger-wheel, downward and letting the latter revolveand drop the cartridges into the feeder; but when the latter becomesfull and is re moved from under arm 2.3,spring 24L rocks shaft 20,thereby throwing thearms 22 upward again under the low er cartridge inthe charger and stopping the flow ofcartridges therefrom. The saidcartridge guide consists of the singlegrooved conductor 7, connectingwith the foot J and having therein the usual grooves, in which theflanges of the heads of the cartridges engage as they slide down, ashereinafter described. The upper end of the conductor 7 is provided withan enlarged portion or plate, 80, on which is pivoted the doublegroovedconductor 78, having two grooves, 8, of like form to that in saidconductor 7, whose lower ends, one after the other, are capable of beingswung over the upper end of the groove in conductor 7.

The conductor 78 is adapted to receive at once a certain number ofcartridges from a box,in which they are packed with theirheads orflanges outward,by engaging the latter with the grooves 8 in saidconductor, and then drawirg the box away from the cartridges, leavingthe latter hanging on the conductor, and such as are in one of thegrooves which communicates with the groove 7 below,will at once dropinto the latter, and from thence they will move into the said mouth ofthe charger B, and immediately that the groove in condoctor 78 which isin line with conductor 7 is emptied the weight of the cartridges in thesecond groove of the upper conductor will cause the latter to swing andbring the car- ICC tridges in the said second groove over the end ofconductor 7, letting them drop into the latter, and so as often as thetwo grooves of the conductor 78 are supplied with cartridges each groovewill be emptied into conductor 7, one after the other, as abovedescribed.

The above-described cartridgecondnctor is only one of several deviceswhich may be employed to present the cartridges one by one to the mouthof the charger B, the latter being adapted to operate in connection withany conductor which is capable of presenting the cartridges to the mouthof the charger so that they will fall lengthwise on the wheel K.

The operation of the within-described improvements is as follows:Cartridges being delivered to the mouth of the charger B, as above setforth, fall first onto the inclined part at at each end of the wheel K,and thence they roll or slid-e against the latter, which turns andallows the cartridge to pass between the wall 8 and the wheel, thelatter meanwhileholding the cartridge in a horizontal position andpreventing its ball end from dropping first. The shaft 6 is turned bythe crank f rotating the aforesaid charger wheel. If the border of theplates a between the notchesr be passing under the cartridge, the latterwill be held up on said border until the notches or recesses 1; passunder it, (the charger-wheel rotating in the direction indicated by thearrow,) when the cartridge will drop into one of said. recesses and becarried around within the case of the charger toward the feeder E, andhaving arrived over the inclined entrance 0 to the spiral grooves in thefeeder it will drop into the latter between the arms (1. Meanwhile theteeth 00 of the disk w engage with the cross-bars 10, between the armsd, and, cause the wheel within the feeder E to rotate continuously withthe action of wheel w, thereby producing a constant movement ofcartridges through the charger B into the feeder E, and causing thelatters arms d to be rotated and carry said cartridges into said groovesin the feeder, as above described.

The short teeth 2 on the toothed disk to, between the long teeth 00, areprovided to prevent the wheel in the feeder, when overloaded on oneside, from turning out of place relative to the charger-wheel, for thebars 10, between the arms 01 of the feeder-wheel, will strike said shortteeth when said disk is inclined so as to turn or run ahead byoverloading, as aforesaid. Said short teeth also aid in causing thecharger-wheel and the feederwheel to come to proper relative positionswhen brought together, by preventing undue movement of the former beforeit commences to drop cartridges into the feeder, said short teeth comingin contact with bars 10 and effecting said result.

If desired, the conductor h, or other device having the same function,may be dispensed with, and the cartridges be dropped one by one into themouth of the charger while the operator turns crank f with the otherhand, and in this way the feeder E may be filled with cartridges muchmore rapidly than by the aforesaid means heretofore employed.

lVhat I claim as my invention is 1. The within'describedcartridge-charging devices for machinegun feeders, consisting of arotating wheel, substantially as described, inclosed in a suitablecylindrical case,and having recesses in its periphery for the receptionof cartridges,combined with the winged wheel K, the wheel-casey, havingthe inclined table on at the end of said wheel K, and a suitablecartridge'conductor for delivering cartridges to the said chargingdevices through the mouth thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. The cartridge-charger consisting of a rotating charger wheel,substantially as described, inclosed in a suitable cylindrical case, andhaving recesses in its periphery for the reception ofcartridges,atoothed disk attached to said wheel, the wheel-case y,attached to said cylindrical case above the charger wheel and having theinclined table m, and the winged wheel K, hung in said case y, combinedwith the feeder E,provided with the internal wheel engaging, with saidtoothed disk,substantia1ly as set forth. a

3. In combination,the feeder E,the chargerwheel and itsinclosing-case,the rock-shaft 20, supported on the latter, the arms 22and 23,

fixed on said shaft, the former reaching into said case, and the spring24, substantially as set forth.

4. A cartridge-charger for machine-gun feeders, consisting of a rotatingwheel, substantially as described, inclosed in a suitable cylindricalcase, and having recesses in its periphery for the reception ofcartridges, combined with the winged wheel K and the wheel-case 3 havingthe inclined table at at the end of said wheel K, substantially as setforth.

5. In combination, the frame A, having the stud D thereon, the chargerB, the feeder E, supported on said stud, the eccentric bushingD,interposed between the latter and the feeder, and capable of beingrotated on the stud,thereby moving the feeder toward and from thecharger, substantially as set forth.

LUCIEN F. BRUCE.

WVitnesses:

' H. A. CHAIIN,

7M. H. OHAPIN.

